Yes, you read the headline right. Channel 4’s latest show is all about what it says on the tin: people who haven’t yet had sex.
Over the course of two weeks, 12 virgins will be taking part in a boot camp that aims to address the various issues they have around intimacy, love and whatever might be standing in the way of them getting it on. By the end of that fortnight, it’s hoped, they might finally be ready to take the plunge (no pun intended).
The show’s methods are varied, but includes, apparently, sex coaches stripping off and encouraging the show’s participants to pleasure them, sharing their ‘hottest’ sexual fantasies with each other, and feeding each other bananas whilst blindfolded.
If this sounds extreme, consider this: the contestants aren’t alone. According to a study from University College London, which surveyed more than 16,000 people across the UK, one in eight 26 year olds still hadn’t had sex.
That’s something that sexologists Danielle Harel and Celeste Hirschman and a team of experts are attempting to address during the show. With how much success? Who knows, but it’ll certainly be an interesting watch: here’s what to know.
What else will the contestants be doing?
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As with most reality TV shows, they’re taken to a Mediterranean island ‘retreat’ that’s kitted out with tents, therapy rooms and bedrooms. They’ll also be taking part in a series of workshops with Harel and Hirschman, as well as the other therapists.
One of these workshops involves Harel and a therapist getting it on in front of the group; another involves detailed discussion of masturbation techniques, and another one is around letting go of their inhibitions – which involves exploring their ‘inner animal’. Apparently, this means getting on all fours and rubbing up against other people, or perhaps even mounting them. Lovely.
The participants are also encouraged to work together by themselves – which is where the banana-feeding comes in, as well as massaging each other.
Who’s in it?
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We don’t yet know a whole lot about the participants, beyond their names. One of them, Ben, told the Guardian that he had been on 50 dates over the last 10 years, but hadn’t managed to get to a more intimate stage with any partner.
“I just didn’t have the confidence, because I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said, adding that being a male virgin came with its own specific set of challenges – namely, if you hadn’t yet had sex, “you must be a weirdo”.
He signed up to the programme because he felt like “I got to the stage where I thought I probably do need some sort of professional help.”
Fellow participant Taylor, 29, told the Guardian that she had had intimate experiences, but they had all been negative – something exacerbated by a lack of sex education at her religious school, and her realising she was bisexual.
“It felt like a little community, like we all had something in common, even though we all had different things to work on,” she added.
She also cited her experience on Virgin Island as a positive one. “It has changed life for me. I feel like I know myself a lot better. And I’m not willing to make myself uncomfortable for the sake of doing something I ‘should’ be doing.”
When’s it out?
The show starts on Channel 4 on Monday May 12 at 9pm: naturally, post-watershed.
